National research systems and change: the reaction of the British and German research systems to the discovery of High-T c superconductors

Abstract

This paper deals with a comparison of the reaction of the German and British research system to the discovery of High-Temperature Superconductors (HTS). The main differences in the formation of HTS policy is that the German scientific community was far more successful in achieving its objectives in the policy process than the British scientific community. The paper analyzes this difference using general policy process concepts like pluralism, corporatism, and policy networks analysis. The thesis is that together with a general change in the national policy style the science system in Britain shifted from a pressure pluralism network with interest domination to a state-directed network. Germany on the other hand exhibits a corporatist network structure in general as in science policy where interests are smoothly brought together and participate in the policy formation. This is shown for the particular case of the superconductivity networks in the two countries.